Memento Mori
by Ruthie
Summary: A price must be paid for her destruction of his labyrinth.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Memento Mori

Rating: K

Summary: A meditation during a storm.

Author Notes: Feedback is always appreciated and I make every endeavour to reply to each reviewer.

Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth or any of its associated characters and I am making no profit from this work of fanfiction (more's the pity).

Dedication: For Sarah, always.

Memento Mori

Copyright © June 2007, Ruth

Dark clouds, thick with the promise of a storm, obsured the moon on that dark night. The very air seemed to be tense, taut with anticipation. The labyrinth was a shadow of its former glory, the walls crumbling into dust at the barest breeze, or the gentlest touch. Nevertheless, it remained magnificent in its ruin, a commanding presence of magic and beauty that could not be denied.

Softly, the raindrops began to fall, like a quiet echo of the footsteps of the past. It had not been so very long ago that real footsteps had echoed throughout the labyrinth's walls, creating a far deeper impression on both the kingdom and its monarch than their owner had ever thought possible.

The rain increased and a bolt of lightening flashed in the distance, for a moment illuminating the twisting paths beyond the gates. It was in this moment that the girl appeared, standing as still as stone just inside the beginning of the labyrinth. Her eyes were closed as the rain fell onto her face, the drops stinging her pale skin as they were thrown from the sky. Her clothes were plastered to her lithe form, cumbersome and utterly drenched.

Yet still she did not move.

A rumble of thunder overhead seemed to draw her from her reverie, as she opened her eyes to the landscape that lay before her, stretching far beyond the horizon. When the lightening flashed again she was confronted with the full horror of its decay, once lush, green vegetation was black and charred, its statues and walls sprawled in the dust. She closed her eyes again as a harsh sob escaped her lips, a tear rolling down her face that soon mingled with the rain.

Death and decay lay before her, a seeming accusation.

She sank slowly to her knees on the cold stone, her hair hanging in limp, wet strands across her face as the rain continued to lash down upon her. Gingerly she reached out a hand to touch the stone but drew back in alarm, as it seemed to pulse beneath her fingers.

"What must I do?" She asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

_What do you think?_ A voice answered.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Memento Mori pt 2

Rating: T

Summary: A price must be paid for her destruction of his labyrinth.

Author Notes: Feedback is always appreciated and I make every endeavour to reply to each reviewer.

Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth or any of its associated characters and I am making no profit from this work of fanfiction (more's the pity).

Dedication: For Sarah, always.

Memento Mori pt 2

Copyright © June 2007, Ruth

_What do you think?_ A voice answered.

Sarah gasped at the sudden intrusion on her solitude and whirled around, expecting to be confronted by a tall, darkly dressed Goblin King with an even darker mood. Instead, all she found was empty air and a silence that was only broken by another distant rumble of thunder.

"Jareth?" she asked, forcing a voice that was stronger than she felt. Names had power here, after all, and the last thing she wanted was to become ensnared by him again. She had completed his labyrinth, she had won Toby back, so why did she still feel bound, obligated to this place and all that it represented?

_Not so_, came the voice again. It seemed to be all around her and yet nowhere at the same time. Disembodied. The thought, combined with her rain-soaked clothes, sent a chill down her spine, along with the growing feeling that she was once again subject to the power of something greater than she could understand.

"Who are you? Where are you? Why can't I see you?" She asked, her voice becoming ever higher as she related each question. The storm showed no signs of abating and it was only now that the cold and the wet were beginning to affect her; her teeth chattered and shivers gripped her lean frame.

_Ever the inquisitor, I see. I am, but I am not. I am the shadow of all that I used to be. Still taking things for granted, little girl? You say that you cannot see me, but I am all around you._

"L…Labyrinth?" Sarah questioned, with no small degree of incredulity in her tone.

_Much has changed since you last set foot on these paths, child. Much has been destroyed_.

"B…because of me? But I had no idea… I mean, I would never…"

_What's done is done._

"What must I do?" Sarah repeated her earlier question, a whirlwind of emotions rising within her. How could her decision have caused so much devastation to such a beautiful land?

"Words have power"

_Indeed they do young one. The power to restore the life of the labyrinth is within you, if you only figure out what it is, and how to use it._

"Well how am I supposed to do that?" She asked, an edge of desperation seeping into her tone as the voice seemed to fade away into the night.

"You could start by explaining yourself."

Sarah froze. The voice that had previously seemed so distant had suddenly become distinctly…tangible.

"Jareth?"


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Memento Mori pt 3 

Rating: T

Summary: A price must be paid for her destruction of his labyrinth.

Author Notes: A THOUSAND APOLOGIES for the delay with updating! Real life has unfortunately barricaded me from writing for a couple of months, but I should soon be back on track. As ever, feedback is always appreciated and I make every endeavour to reply to each reviewer.

Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth or any of its associated characters and I am making no profit from this work of fanfiction (more's the pity).

Dedication: For Sarah, always.

Memento Mori pt 3

Copyright (c) August 2007, Ruth

Sarah froze. The voice that had previously seemed so distant had suddenly become...tangible.

"_Jareth?"_

_"Who else were you expecting, little Sarah?"_

His snide and patronising response only served to heighten her temper as she whirled to face him.

He hadn't changed at all. It was not that she had expected anything different; just as he was in control of time, he himself was timeless. She, however, was vastly changed from the young girl who had boldly challenged him. As the years passed following her return aboveground, Sarah was less and less sure of whether she could even term it a victory that she had 'achieved' against a greater foe, or the wasting, painful chasm of an opportunity lost, words spoken without enough thought.

_"You know why I am here."_

It was a statement, bold and resolute in its failure to answer his question. In a split second she had demonstrated to him that whilst her childish impetuosity was gone, she retained all the fire and temper of their previous encounter.

He wasn't sure whether to feel invigorated or enraged, but settled for a mixture of the two.

_"Oh, I do? Still taking things for granted, aren't you, little Sarah?"_

_"No,"_ Sarah forced herself to reply evenly, though he was deliberately goading her to lose her temper with him, _"I don't know how I am here, but I know that I am, and that I have an...obligation of sorts towards you and this place that needs to be fulfiled."_

Jareth paused for a moment and considered her response, not a little surprised that she had failed to take the bait and give rise to her anger. Further, there was an air about her, something vastly different from their first meeting. Contrition, perhaps? An ugly sneer curled his lip, as he pondered on how best to work this to his advantage.

_"An obligation, you say?"_

Jareth was being deliberately vague and Sarah knew it; he was waiting for her to imprison herself, to be bound in knots by the wrong words.

_"I feel that I was responsible for the labyrinth's destruction and therefore I must also be responsible for it's repair."_

_"Whatever that repair might entail?"_ Jareth asked, one eyebrow arched, in a challenging posture.

Whatever it might entail. She had no idea of what he was coercing her into accepting, no idea of what he might have planned for her, but as Sarah stood there in the rain, face-to-face with the man whom she had once thought to be her arch enemy, she realised two things. One, that she had been terribly, terribly wrong, and two, that she no longer cared. If Jareth was to lead her into oblivion, then so be it.

_"Whatever that repair might entail,"_ she agreed, and bowed her head.

Jareth's laughter cut through the night air like a sharpened blade. Sarah didn't see his hand move through the air in front of her, but as a bolt of lightening flashed in the distance she felt the heavy weight of iron chains around her neck and wrists. Soon after she was pulled to the ground, and then the darkness closed over her entirely.


End file.
